Pawar’s request for being relieved of his post is an irresponsible move05/08/2010

Democratic governments are supposed to be of, by and for the people. But the way some politicians in power in our great country end up, we may only want to believe the ‘by’ part with reasonable degree of certainty. When they leave, the only thing that the Indian electorate perhaps misses is some more well deserved moments of infotainment!

No prizes for guessing the most famous case in recent times — Shashi Tharoor of course! The edgy Congress tolerated his criticism of Nehruvian foreign policy, which he described as “more like moralistic running commentary”. From going soft on Israel for its occupation of and raids in Gaza, to almost inviting Saudi Arabia to mediate in Kashmir, from putting up in a 5 star hotel instead of his official accommodation to delving into ‘cattle class’ innuendos – Tharoor had many a field day. The final nail in the coffin was the IPL imbroglio, when he was accused of a kickback through his fiancée in return for his efforts to bring the Kochi franchisee together.

Now we have Sharad Pawar and his latest plea for abdication of responsibilities. The good part was that he has himself admitted that he has bitten more than he can chew and requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reduce what he called ‘burden’ (i.e. his ministry of agriculture, food and consumer affairs)! And what he doesn’t call burden, obviously, is his involvement with BCCI and now ICC as its newly appointed president. Obviously, the lives of some 410 million people living below the poverty line and vying for Pawar’s attention do not matter as much as the fortunes of the richest sportspeople in the country and around the world. And neither does it seem to matter that inflation is wreaking havoc with the lives of ordinary Indians across the country, and able leadership is the need of the hour. If cricket is his priority, can Pawar abdicate politics for good and stick to his favourite pitch?